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Hohenwald SDA Church

Norman McNulty

The Value of Heresy

Our Father in heaven, we thank you for this Sabbath day that we can worship you, and I pray that as we go through the message today, that you would speak through me, and that the words would be clear, and that we would each gain what we need to learn from the message today.

The title for the message today is The Value of Heresy.

Now you may wonder, how could heresy have any value?

Especially when you look at our Scripture reading, and I want to go through this again, Galatians 5, verses 19-21, which is interesting.

This immediately precedes the more well-known passage of the fruits of the Spirit that we all know of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.

But the contrast is seen in the verses just before, which are the works of the flesh.

Now, when we look at the works of the flesh, which are identified in these 3 verses, most of these we aren't surprised to see listed under the category of the works of the flesh.

Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, these are things that are clearly condemned throughout Scripture.

And then we get to verse 20, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies.

Now this is where things get a little bit more interesting.

Now obviously we know idolatry is an issue And we talk about how the children of Israel back in Bible times worshipped idols.

We may not be bowing down to golden idols per se, but there is modern idolatry that many in the Church struggle with, the modern fashions and cultures and entertainment of this world.

Witchcraft, there's not as much of that in the modern era, although when we lived in Trinidad there was some of that going on among some of the people, and there's other places where that takes place.

But there's a well-known Bible verse that says, rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.

And rebellion, which is witchcraft, is just as much an evidence of the works of the flesh as some of the other things that are mentioned.

And we go on down, and this is where I want to get to verse 20, and that's this word heresies.

This is something that sometimes I have seen Seventh-day Adventists struggle with, and it's amazing to me how many well-meaning, Bible-believing Seventh-day Adventists are taken away or carried away by the latest, greatest heresy that will come into the Church.

Now, heresy can take on many different guises or forms.

We think, for example, of some of the heresies that have come into Adventism through the years, such as when Dr.

Desmond Ford in the late 1970s and early 1980s challenged the teaching of the sanctuary message and of the investigative judgment, and that heresy was very well and adequately handled by the church and was dealt with.

And there's been other heresies that have come in since then, and a lot of times those of us here tend to be from the more conservative way of thinking, and so we think about so-called liberal heresies that come into the church that water down the clear teachings of the Sabbath sacredness or the sanctuary message, or other heresies that attack the very core foundation of our beliefs.

But sometimes we don't realize that sometimes on the right side of the church we can be just as susceptible to heresy as the people on the left side.

And Scripture says that heresy is a manifestation of the work of the flesh.

In other words, heresy is a product of the carnal mind.

I have seen some of the best well-crafted heresy within the realms of Adventism that is under the guise of being supported by the Bible in the writings of Ellen White.

And there are reams and reams of Bible verses and Ellen White statements.

And you get to the end of the study, and it's honestly just as unclear as it was at the beginning, but there's assertions that go with the statements to make the point, but we aren't as willing to admit that the mindset that is promoting this idea is coming from a carnal mind that is going against the clear teaching of Scripture.

And we need to be willing to call sin by its right name.

When heresy comes into the church, whether it's from the far left that attacks the validity of the Word of God, or if it's using the Word of God as a cover to bring in heresy from the other side, we need to be able to call sin by its right name.

Now you may be wondering, what do you mean then with the sermon title, The Value of Heresy?

What could there be to the value of heresy?

Why does God allow heresy to come into the church?

Why doesn't He just protect us and keep us from false teachings so that we won't be spoiled or defiled by such things?

Well I want to read to you a few statements.

I have been shown that many who profess to have a knowledge of present truth have not, or know not, what they believe.

They do not understand the evidences of their faith.

They have no just appreciation of the work for the present time.

When the time of trial shall come, there are men now preaching to others who will find upon examining the positions they hold that there are many things for which they can give no satisfactory reason until thus tested they knew not their great ignorance." You know, a lot of times we take for granted what we think we know, but then when tested, when a heresy comes into the church, we realize that we didn't really understand why we believe what we believe.

Going on it says, And there are many in the church who take it for granted that they understand what they believe, but until controversy arises they do not know their own weakness.

When separated from those of like faith and compelled to stand singly and alone to explain their belief, they will be surprised to see how confused are their ideas of what they had accepted as truth.

Certain it is that there has been among us a departure from the living God and a turning to men, putting human wisdom in place of divine." So, in other words, there are some among us who rely on what the preacher says and what they hear in Sabbath school class and just take for granted that they kind of understand what the truth is, but if they are separated from the preacher or the elder or the pastor or whoever that has been able to explain the message, they quickly realize that they don't understand why they believe what they believe.

Now this next paragraph comes to the title and the idea behind the message.

Now look, we need to be aroused, we need to be awakened.

There's this stupor, this spiritual lethargy in the church.

So the statement says, God will arouse his people.

Well, how is he going to arouse his people?

Notice what it says, If other means fail, heresies will come in among them, which will sift them, separating the chaff from the wheat.'" So, in other words, God allows heresy to come into the church to identify who the true followers of Jesus are, versus those who are just chaff, who are along for the ride, and who don't know what they believe and why they believe it.

Now, let me hasten to add, I am not advocating that any 1 of us brings heresy knowingly into the church to see how it will separate the church 1 way or the other.

Heresy is a manifestation of the work of the flesh.

And the Bible reading goes on to say, Paul says, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

So let me be very clear to you, Teachers of heresy will not inherit the kingdom of God unless they repent.

It is not okay to be a teacher of heresy.

But God allows teachers of heresy to come into the midst of the church because the church is in a state of lethargy and when heresy comes in it leads to an awakening among some so that we will study to know what we believe and why we believe what we believe.

So the quote goes on to say, "...the Lord calls upon all who believe His word to awake out of sleep.

Precious light has come appropriate for this time.

It is Bible truth showing the perils that are right upon us.

This light should lead us to a diligent study of the Scriptures and a most critical examination of the positions which we hold." Now, I'm just going to mention in general terms some recent heresies that have come in.

And I'm gonna invite you to come back to our 1.30 meeting this afternoon where I'm gonna deal with a specific heresy that has just popped up recently.

So you'll want to come back this afternoon.

We're gonna go through what the allegation that's being made towards the Church, why there's a problem with this allegation, how it's a heresy, and how we need to be aware of it so that we can know what really is correct.

Now, I'm not going to get into a lot of detail per se, but in recent times there's been a revival of this so-called anti-Trinitarian movement, or the 1 True God movement, who claims that the Father is the 1 True God.

That's not really what I'm addressing directly today, but it is a heresy because if you say that Jesus is not God, that's the same allegation that Lucifer was making in Heaven when Christ assumed the form of the angels, and he was the archangel.

And Lucifer was going around saying, how is he really any different than me if I'm the covering cherub?

What's the difference between me and him and why can't I enter into the councils of heaven?" And so those who would make claim today that Jesus isn't really God, He's divine but not God, are buying into a similar line of reasoning from way back in the ages past in heaven when Lucifer brought such charges.

I'm not going to get into all the detail of that today.

There's also insubordination among wide swaths of Western Adventism over votes that have taken place, whether in the General Conference and Session or Annual Council, and people say that they're going to follow their conscience no matter what, and yet consciences can be seared, And people are calling right, wrong, and wrong, right.

And how can I trust your conscience if you're not willing to follow a thus saith the Lord?

The church has taken its positions on certain things based on what the Bible says.

So, people will say, well, we're just fighting over policy.

Well, the reason there's a policy is because we believe that policy is based on what the Word of God says, and that's why the majority of the church has voted the way it's voted.

And we're told that we can have confidence that the voice of God has spoken when you have a representative group of worldwide delegates who take a vote.

So, I'm not going to get into the detail of that, but here's what I want to 0 in on today.

I'm going to start to talk about this a little bit now, and we're going to get into the greater detail this afternoon.

But within the last few weeks, a well-known speaker in conservative Adventist circles is claiming new and fresh light in which he is suggesting a time period of a couple of months where the national Sunday law is going to be passed.

Nearly 100, 000 people have seen this video in just the last 2 weeks.

It's using a reapplication of prophecies that have already come to an end to set a date.

And in fact there are some people, there's a pastor out in California of a similar mindset that has set a specific date for this Sunday Law which is connected to what they claim to be a close of probation for Seventh-day Adventists.

There's also leaders of another movement called the 2520 Movement who've set a date for the close of probation in November of 2019.

So there's a lot of stuff that's going on right now which tells me that we're living in some very interesting times.

Now, I'm here today to say I want to affirm the idea that we need to be in a state of readiness.

We need to have a state of preparation, but there is something dangerous about setting dates, especially when you say you're not time setting when you're time setting.

This is Review and Herald, October 9, 1894.

God has not revealed to us the time when this message will close, or when probation will have an end.

Those things that are revealed we shall accept for ourselves and for our children, but let us not seek to know that which has been kept secret in the counsels of the Almighty.

It is our duty to watch, and work, and wait, to labor every moment for the souls of men that are ready to perish.

We are to keep walking continually in the footsteps of Jesus, working in His lines, dispensing His gifts as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

Satan will be ready to give to anyone who is not learning every day of Jesus a special message of his own creating in order to make of no effect the wonderful truth for this time." Did you hear that?

Let me just reemphasize a couple of important things.

God has not revealed to us the time when this message will close or when probation will happen, and that's the first thing that's worth mentioning.

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The Value of Heresy

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